SYDNEY OLYMPIC – 2024 SEASON REVIEW

For the 2^nd season in a row, Sydney Olympic has ended the year in a mid-table position in the League. Finishing 9^th in 2023 and now 8^th in 2024.

One poor season is unacceptable, but most supporters can give a benefit of the doubt to the club for an off-year and even forgive it.

The fact that the club then decided to go with “same again” for 2024 and has now suffered 2 shockingly poor seasons in a row, makes it all the more worse. It is just simply not good enough.

In the 60 combined matches of seasons 2023 and 2024, we have lost 25 of those 60 matches, that is unheard of, winning only 23 and the rest of the 12 ended in draws.

To delve deeper into who we lost to in 2024, Sydney Olympic lost to the team that ran stone motherless last, Hills United (WHO?) TWICE!

To expand on this further, the bottom 6 sides of the NSW NPL this season, who were all absolutely dreadful for most of the year by the way, all beat Sydney Olympic throughout the season.

We lost to WSW NPL, SFC NPL, CCM NPL, Hills - twice, St George - twice and lost and drew in both of our matches this season against Sutherland. To say that these clubs are kafeneia, would be an insult to kafeneia.

Additionally, in both of the past 2 seasons there has been no saving grace for the club in the Cup competitions, where we have also experienced awful Cup runs.

We have failed to progress to the latter stages of the Waratah Cup and we have not made it to the Australia Cup Round of 32 Main Draw, in either of the last 2 seasons.

In fact, we have made it to the Australia Cup Round of the 32 Main Draw, only 3 times in 11 attempts since the competition was re-introduced in 2014 and we have not made a Waratah Cup Final since 2008 and in the 16 years since that time, we have reached the Semi-Final stage of the Waratah Cup only twice.

Some will say, what about the fact we have a lot of younger players and the club is building up to something? That would be great, if this was the type of League where you could keep a core of young players together. But it is not, players are enticed, move and come and go every year, for as little as a packet of chips, for an extra $100 a week, or for some other off-field favour.

The irony of course, is that outside of a near 40 year-old forward, our best players this season have been some of our youngest players who have saved us in matches this season, on numerous occasions.

Our so called experienced players are the ones who haven’t been pulling their weight.

Is it the coach, is it the players, is it the one who signs the players, is it the board?

In my opinion, it is probably all of those, but on the player front, we need a proper Centre-Forward, we need a couple of good Central-Midfielders and probably a Goalkeeper.

One of the running gags of the supporters this season has been the Haliti Out comments.

The fact of the matter is, that any other coach in Sydney Olympic’s long history with that poor of a win-loss record, would have been shown the door a long time ago. It is a miracle he is still there.

It is not personal against Labinot Haliti, although seeing supporters constantly calling for his head, it probably does seem personal to him. We as Sydney Olympic Supporters are into seeing the club be successful, that is what interests us, that is our priority at the end of the day. The club is there to win, not to be a charity.

Losing 25 out of 60 matches in 2 full seasons is no one’s idea of success.

So the question then becomes, does the club want to make a change now, or once more will they go with same again for 2025? Go an entire off-season/pre-season with the same people in the coaching staff and in the player ranks and then 6-8 weeks into the new season, we've started horribly again, we’re out of the Title race again, we’re out of the Cup competitions again and the season is a write off, again.

Then it won’t only be Haliti Out, it will be the whole lot of you Out.

The club has embarrassed itself these last 2 seasons and if there are no changes, we will continue to be an embarrassment.

Onto the National 2^nd Division now, whatever happened with that? Still no official word from anybody involved.

I noted with much amusement, the meeting held by the clubs involved in the formation of the National 2nd Division - with 1 of those clubs being our Sydney Olympic - with the FFA, to resolve the impasse over the failure of the announcement and implementation of said National 2^nd Division.

One would expect some sort of decision or determination by now, about if it is going ahead or not, instead, the “announcement” we got was an announcement that they had agreed to once again meet in the future, to resolve whatever issues there are.

These statements are what piss people off. There was a meeting held where it would be decided that there would be in the future, more meetings? Farcical.

Sydney Olympic as well as the other clubs, have put up an estimated $1 Million each so far to get this thing off the ground. The legal ramifications for the FFA if this National 2^nd Division doesn’t get off the ground, must also not be ignored.

It will also surely spell big trouble for the FFA, which is already a failure of an organisation to begin with and the people running it have no idea how to administer the sport.

In any event, $1 Million would have been much better spent in my opinion, on a base for the club finally, instead of its 67 year nomadic existence. A place for the club to call home, but then again, long term planning has never been the clubs strong suit.

Especially, as we are in a situation currently where we barely train out of Belmore anymore these days and we don’t play all our home games out of Belmore anymore either.

Once again the Bulldogs flex their political muscle with the council and get whatever they want, despite abandoning and attempting to abandon Belmore on numerous occasions throughout the years, remember Kelso Park in East Hills? Stardome in Liverpool? Homebush? Bass Hill?

And every time, Sydney Olympic never stood in the Bulldogs way whenever they came crawling back to Belmore. Sure the club would never be in a position or have the power, to refuse them back anyway, but the point still stands.

Everyone is also aware by now, about the $50 Million centre of excellence which will be built at Belmore Sports Ground for the Bulldogs and there’s a high chance, Sydney Olympic’s time at Belmore will be coming to an end.

My advice to the club, if they wanted to hear it, would be this: If the Bulldogs want us out of Belmore fine. But cough up $5 Million of that 50 for us to move, plus the Bulldogs and the Council should work together with the club to find us another site in the area. Then we’ll gladly leave.

Sydney Olympic as a result, have had to play numerous home games at Kogarah this year, don’t get me wrong, Kogarah is a great place to play, but surely it would be easier and better for the club, to have its junior and senior men’s and women’s teams and its office, all based in the one location.

In terms of engagement by the club, the juveniles behind the club’s social media platforms barely post or produce anything and when they do, they are pretty quick on the trigger in terms of deleting any comments critical of the club and of the performances of its employees and I’m talking about genuine criticism here directed at the club that is deserved, not moronic troll comments.

Funnily enough, while the club is quick to delete comments of supporters and members, they let those spam betting accounts go on posting virus link after virus link and allow trolls who support other clubs to write whatever they want, no dramas.

Club personnel have even blocked the Sydney Olympic Supporters twitter account and sent messages to us on facebook, making ridiculous demands.

They should worry less about what we’re doing and worry more about how they are going to turn things around.

It remains to be seen what happens over the next few months at Sydney Olympic, but at this moment in time, we don’t know where we will be based out of, where we will be playing and in which competition we will be competing.

Sounds promising.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC – MID-SEASON REVIEW

It is that time of the year again, where we take stock of Sydney Olympic’s performances on the field so far this season. In an almost carbon copy of mid-way through last season, things are not looking all that great.

After 15 rounds last season, we were sitting in 8^th, on 21 points. At the same point this time around, we are sitting in 9^th, on 19 points. Two points and one position worse off than last year. Just not good enough for a club like Sydney Olympic.



Plenty of excuses have been thrown around, like the club is currently focusing on and preparing for the National 2^nd Division, which is apparently supposed to begin in March 2025 and the other excuse, is that the team should be cut a little slack, due to its lack of experience and it being a young squad.

I’m not sure about preparing for the National 2^nd Division as an excuse, so I’ll leave that alone, but as for the latter, I do not wholly buy it.

Yes the club has quite a few younger players this season, but that shouldn’t be used as an excuse. They are not 15 year-olds, they are in their 20’s.

But if we indulge the excuse for a minute, as well as those younger players, the club also has the likes of O’Donovan, Gordon, Parkhouse, Parsons, Timotheou, Burgess, McIllhatton all within their ranks, they are sufficiently experienced and should be good enough to guide the younger players through.

If being top of the table is too much of an ask right now, surely the players and the squad we have at our disposal, are better than 9^th position?

In saying that, we have played well and showed promise in almost every match so far, but only in patches or for 30 minutes, matches go for 90, we need to remember that.

I think the most disappointing thing is, we have lost and dropped points to the bottom clubs and I don’t have any official statistics to back it up, but we have to be up there, as having conceded the most goals in the last 5 minutes of games.

Is that purely a concentration problem or a fitness one, or both?

It is not all doom and gloom, there have been a couple of stand-outs on the pitch so far this season.

Michael Vakis has been our best player by a long long way, it is not even close, this guy has a big future. A shout-out to Teng Kuol as well, who has been very good and is only getting better.

Other players have had their moments at different times, but all in all, most have been below par so far this season.

The overall point being made here, is that the team is performing way below to the talent that it has in its squad. Perhaps the coach is just not up to it, two seasons in and only a few people would argue against that assertion.

You never know when it comes to the NSW NPL competition, but we look like avoiding a relegation fight this time. Conversely, it is going to take some sort of miracle, to make the Top 6 and play Finals from here.

As a result, much attention will now be turned towards the Cup competitions, as at the time of writing this, we are still alive there. We need to throw everything into going as far as possible, in both the Waratah Cup and the Australia Cup.

We have been awful for a long time in the Cup competitions, maybe 2024 will be the year we do something.

To off-field matters now, another potential issue for the club long-term, is the confirmed fact, that Canterbury-Bankstown Council has voted in favour of and rubber-stamped, the beginning of work on the “Bulldogs Centre of Excellence”, which will see work begin sometime at the end of this year.

Meaning, that the entire Belmore Sports Ground precinct, will be out of action and a construction site, for a good 18 months, or for however long it takes them to finish.

Word is that Sydney Olympic will be based back at Kogarah Oval for season 2025, but beyond that, it is all up in the air. Nothing has been confirmed as yet, for beyond 2025.

When you see some of these park outfits and small teams, being given millions in funding for their grounds, facilities and other amenities, it makes you wonder why Sydney Olympic can’t get anything from anyone.

I am assured that the current Board are doing their best to find a solution, but once again, the amateurish inept jokers, who were in control and running the club in the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, even into the 2000’s, when land was more plentiful and cheaper, when crowds were good, when times were good, when merchandise was flying off the shelves and we were selling players to clubs in Europe, they did nothing to ensure the club put proper roots down anywhere.

In 2024, that task has almost become impossible, as there is far less land available in the parts of Sydney where we are suited to be, plus any land is now at ridiculous price levels. Given how many apparently, successful, well connected and wealthy Greeks there are in Sydney, maybe someone will come a long one day and save the day.

But don’t hold your breath.

Here’s to a much more successful second-half to the season.